The invention relates to engine lathes, and more particularly, to a work stop that fits into a spindle of an engine lathe or any other similar hollow spindle machine.
Spindle work stops are well known in the art. Heretofore, spindle work stops have been made by individual machinists in order to meet the construction requirements for each machine. Some of the prior art devices include parts held in place with set screws, tapered plugs and "spiders" which fit between the openings of the chuck jaws of the machine.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,398,278 and 4,955,622 disclose work stops in which the stop rod is held in place by a threaded screw. Prior art work stops are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,014,051, 3,115,798, 3,385,607, 3,615,101, 3,876,214 and 4,702,484, indicating that the work stops can have many different types of construction as shown in these patents.
It is noted, that there is no standard commercial tool that can be used to secure the prior art work stops within the spindle of the lathe, where in many cases set screws are used to clamp the work stops onto the spindle. In these cases, the set screws can distort or damage the spindle, and also the use of such set screws often requires the removal of the back cover or guard of the lathe in the installation thereof.
Furthermore, the prior art spindle work stops require that only one size material can be fitted to the stop. Additionally, prior art work stops are too large and heavy to store in a conventional tool box. Also, prior art work stops are difficult to adapt to fit into latches having different size spindles, normally take a long time to set up, are expensive to manufacture and therefore must be sold at a high price.
Accordingly, there is presently a need for a spindle work stop that can be secured with a standard commercial tool, that reduces the amount of manufactured parts, that does not use any set screws in the construction thereof, that can be fitted with different size material, that can be easily stored in a conventional tool box, that can be easily adapted to fit into lathes having different size spindles, that can be set up quickly, that can be adjusted without being removed from the machine, that can be adjusted to a desired position with a work piece in the machine, that are inexpensive to manufacture and therefore can be sold at a reasonable price.